Murder in the Dog Park/Dog Spelled Backwards by Jill Yesko :: review (and a giveaway!)

Murder in the Dog Park

Mystery
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Baxter World Publishing (May 28, 2012)
ISBN-13: 978-0985485207
File Size: 242 KB
Print Length: 128 pages
ASIN: B00A10IU7O

Synopsis

Discovering a brutally murdered boy in a rainy dog park sends misanthropic private detective Jane Ronson on a journey through Baltimore’s gritty underbelly. Aided by a sexy cop, a bad-ass bull terrier, and an only-in-Baltimore cast of characters, Jane must use her computer-hacking and street-fighting skills to save her only family member from being framed as the killer.

Dog Spelled Backwards: An Unholy Mystery

Mystery
Paperback: 210 pages
Publisher: Baxter World Publishing (August 17, 2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0985485214
File Size: 1355 KB
Print Length: 118 pages
ASIN: B00FDXQVO8

Synopsis

Private investigator Jane Ronson suffers from oppositional defiant disorder, the uncontrollable urge to punch first then ask questions later. When a rabbi with a shady past offers her a bag of cash to spy on a rival rabbi, Jane jumps at the chance to make what think will be easy money. To get her cash, Jane impersonates an Orthodox Jewish woman and infiltrates a black market kidney ring in Baltimore’s Orthodox community. Between Russian gangsters and double crosses, Jane is number one on everyone’s hit list. To save her life, she forms an alliance with a religious woman and confronts a family.

About This Author

Jill Yesko’s 20+ year writing career has included stints as a sport writer, NPR commentator and investigative reporter. She’s written about everything from body piercing to human pyramids in Spain. After a solo trek around the world, Jill was profiled as an “adventurous traveler” in O, the Oprah magazine. Before becoming a writer, Jill was a national-class cyclist and graduate and cartographer. A New Jersey native, Jill now patrols Baltimore’s dog parks with her basset hound.

 Author Links

www.murderinthedogpark.com
http://murderinthedogpark.blogspot.com
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18386998-dog-spelled-backwards-an-unholy-mystery
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15826419-murder-in-the-dog-park

My Review

Dog Spelled Backwards is the book that is the new release but the first book in the series was offered as well to the reviewers. I hate not starting a series at the beginning so I took Murder In The Dog Park to read as well. Actually, it turned out to be a good idea because these are both novellas and you would need to read both to get a book out of it.Unfortunately, and I never mention this, the price does not reflect the fact that these are not books. Ms. Yesko is skilled as a writer. She does however need an editor. The first book goes back and tells all about when the protagonist, Jane, left college and why. I won’t tell you to leave some element of mystery. Suffice to say that while it revealed a lot about the protagonist, it took up far too much space in a novella. Which in a sense was good in that there was no mystery. A body was found. By Jane. By coincidence, BIG coincidence, Jane’s cousin Lenny took a picture earlier clearly showing the murderer. The bit of padding to make it look like Lenny did it is just that, padding to create a mystery. If this was a short story, I would say 4♥s for the story but because of the padding, I would say only 3 as a novella. And of course, as I said, there was no mystery. Now the second novella had a bit more promise. There actually is a mystery, a good one, on an unexpected topic, and there is a bit of a sting going on. Once again we have an overly long, angst filled going into Jane’s past to learn why she is an outcast. Good to get to know her IF this was a book. No room for that here. So despite a good mystery, as a novella this is another 3.

HOWEVER, if novella one, with its non-mystery which would be a good secondary plot line, were combined with novella two and its very good mystery, mix in a good editor, and voila! you would have a book worthy of ♥♥♥♥♥

There is a giveaway of each of the novellas which you can enter by going here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Participants

April 14 – rantin’ ravin’ and reading – Review
April 15 – Mommasez… – Review, Guest Post
April 16 – readalot blog – Review
April 17 – Kelly P’s Blog – Interview
April 18 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – Guest Post
April 19 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Review
April 21- deal sharing aunt – Guest Post
April 22 – StoreyBook Reviews – Review
April 22 – fuonlyknew ~ Laura’s Ramblins and Reviews – Review
April 23 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers  – Review
April 24 – fundinmental – Guest Post
April 25 – Thoughts in Progress – Review, Interview
April 26 – Chloe Gets a Clue  – Interview
April 27 – Melina Book Blog – Guest Post
April 28 – Teena in Toronto – Review
April 29 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – Review
April 30 – Brooke Blogs – Review, Guest Post